


goodnight and go

by closingdoors



Series: Pepperony Week 2018 [7]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, MIT, Pepperony Week, Pepperony week 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 18:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15735174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/closingdoors/pseuds/closingdoors
Summary: "I know who you are. I don't have any interest in you."or, prompt seven: college AU





	goodnight and go

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a thing I went back and forth on whether to post or not (hence why it's such a late addition to my Pepperony Week series). Most of the time, I absolutely hate it, because of characterisation (for me, these two are not easy to write young) and just god awful writing etc etc. Then again, I've hit a point where I can't think of another way to write this prompt, and I really don't want to leave the series unfinished. So I guess I'm just posting this in the hopes we'll all just let it quietly exist.
> 
> Also, I've no idea what American college is like. I'm British, and university life here is different, so any references to actual college work/life etc are all based off of American movies I've seen. I apologise. They're the only point of reference I have.
> 
>  
> 
> Why d'ya have to be so cute?  
> It's impossible to ignore you  
> Must you make me laugh so much?  
> It's bad enough we get along so well  
> Say goodnight and go
> 
> \- Goodnight And Go, Imogen Heap

She's head-deep in textbooks, which is exactly the right time to bother girls. They're still a little dazed from studying and end up swooning over their movie-like library romance. The amount of sordid campus romances he's had by picking girls up at the library instead of bars is a little ridiculous, if he's being frank.

Tony spots her immediately. Blazing red hair, ivory-white skin peppered with freckles, pencil between pearly teeth. He's drawn to her like a moth to a flame. He narrowly escapes a girl he hooked up with two nights ago on his way over to the redhead. 

He slides himself into the seat across from her, but she doesn't look up. He has no books with him to blend in so he leans across and stares at hers. She's surrounded by three textbooks, copying equations into her notebook. So, she's smart. That's good. It's always a fifty-fifty with students, of any gender, as to whether they got in to MIT for their intelligence or with their parent's money. He's the rare example of both. 

When he leans in, her head snaps up. Her nostrils flare, a delightful sign of anger.

"Can I help you?" She asks pointedly.

"You're missing a number."

The girl looks back down at her notes.

"I am?"

He slips the pencil from her hand. She lets him. He rotates the notepad his way, scribbles down his cell number, and passes it back to her. Her nose wrinkles with distaste and she rips the page from the notepad, scrunching it up in a ball and aiming it at his head. He dodges and it rolls away under another table.

"That was awful."

"That was a truly terrible waste of paper. Don't you know there's an environmental crisis going on?" 

"Leave me alone," she replies in a clipped tone. "I know who you are. I don't have any interest in you."

"At least tell me your name." 

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to. Now leave." 

He doesn't budge. 

"I'll call campus security," she insists.

"Cuffs already? We've only just met."

When she glares, her sea-coloured eyes rage like a tsunami. It's simultaneously terrifying and arousing. 

Though he's able to talk himself out of anything, he doesn't fancy a stint with campus security right now. He'd been busted in the robotics lab last night working on his latest super-secret project out of hours (or, to be precise, almost three in the morning). They've limited patience with him so it's best to keep his head low for the next couple days. Or, at the very least, one day.

"Fine, fine," he acquiesces. "Your loss, though."

"Oh, I doubt that," she murmurs, already buried in her textbooks again.

 

 

 

 

Pepper  _ really  _ isn't into Tony Stark. She isn't. She goes home and rants to her roommate about the nerve he'd had. Her roommate, Antonia, a girl with yellow-blonde hair and an interesting array of face piercings for an MIT student, snaps her gum and idly muses on how she'd at least sleep with him to see if the rumours are true. Pepper has no reply and spends the remainder of the night studying for her quiz the next morning.

A week later, Pepper leaves her professor's office after finding out she aced the quiz. She holds the result close to her, safe between her ring binder and her chest, until Tony Stark appears from her side and plucks the sheet of paper from her.

He lets out a low whistle as he reads the grade. She snatches it back from him, already mourning how the paper was one crisp and wrinkle-free.

"Are you  _ stalking  _ me?"

"Nice grade. Miller, right? He doesn't give those out easily."

"Excuse me?"

"Miller. Professor Miller," he repeats. "Your major is economics, isn't it?"

"You  _ are  _ stalking me!" She splutters indignantly.

Tony reaches one arm across her shoulder. For a moment, she thinks he's trying to lean against the wall and trap her between the solid surface and his body. She gets ready to shove the heel of her palm into his nose. Then he nods over her shoulder too. She glances back to see him tapping the name engraved in the office door.  _ Professor J Miller. _

"I had him for a class too."

His arm falls away, he steps out of her personal space, yet her body remains coiled with tension. She eyes him dubiously.

"What _is_ your major?"

"The easier question is what  _ isn't  _ my major?" 

This, she suspects, is a truth. Though he's known for his sexual antics across campus, she's also heard of his genius, which sometimes she thinks is inflated because of his heritage. After all, how could a man that spends so much time partying and hooking up find any time to study, or even go to class? It's impossible.

Pepper attempts to flatten her quiz with her palm before tucking it back in the safe spot against her chest. Tony watches her, bemused, but doesn't say a word. She briefly wonders if he simply pays for his grades. That'd explain why he doesn't have to work at all. It makes her hot with jealousy. She's been working her ass off for two years worrying about losing her scholarship ride while her dad takes extra shifts back home to send her money to live on. 

"I'm going now," she states, a little short.

He  _ salutes  _ her. 

"See you around, Virginia."

She gapes at him. He simply taps her quiz again. 

 

 

 

 

 

Howard Stark's reputation precedes Tony's, and it's only one of the several thousand reasons Tony hates his father. 

They walk the campus halls, Howard greeting the professors they pass. He casts a shadow too big to outgrow. He wishes his mother were here, but she's states away representing the Stark family at a charity lunch.

Howard asks for Tony to show him his work. Tony doesn't show him his real projects because his father likes to take his ideas and crush them into weapons. In an ideal world, Tony gets to escape the weapons industry. He gets to continue building his bots which are only designed to assist and help. The first one he'd built hadn't been able to do much, but it'd been a start. But he knows, once college is over, that he'll be moulded into the perfect destruction-building son his father has always wanted.

What he does show him only brings disappointment to his father's eyes. The anger brews quietly in his chest. His father meanwhile carries his in his spine, his shoulders, making all the lines of him sharp and angry, makes him say words like  _ you can do better than this  _ and  _ what am I spending all this money on child's play for? _

They go through this routine every couple months. Howard comes to 'check in', which really means to find an excuse to pull him out of school and send him to work for the business. They argue back and forth about it until his mom mediates and they pretend to be a happy family when they go for lunch at the end of the visit. 

This time, his mother isn't here. So when they're walking out of the robotics lab, his father's words growing louder and louder with each step, Tony has no-one to fight in his corner. Howard is practically yelling by the time they head out into the crisp October air, his words carrying in the wind. Tony already knows they'll twist and warp around in his mind later on, so he won't sleep, but drink until he's drunk enough to sleep without thinking about it. 

And then - 

Virginia.

She appears out of thin air. Rounding the corner with her head down, practically marching, fussing with the strap on her bag. It's so utterly unlike the woman that he's met twice that he finds himself speechless when she walks right into him.

"I'm so sorry, this stupid bag is broken and my books are gonna spill everywhere," she's already apologising, until she looks up and sees who it is. Her frantic looks disappears and is replaced with a cool, collected expression instead. "Oh. Tony."

Howard's laugh is bitter, twisted. "Does every god damn woman on this campus know you? Can't you keep it in your pants for one second?"

He waits for Virginia to blush. She doesn't. She sizes Howard up, and Tony wonders briefly if she'd heard the words he'd been spouting. If she believes them to be true. Maybe he really is a disappointment.

"We don't know each other like that," she replies coolly, smiling without teeth. Tony's chest tumbles. She holds her hand out to Howard. "Virginia Potts."

His father almost looks impressed. "Howard Stark." 

"Pleasure to meet you," she says, though her tone says  _ it's not,  _ and he's never had the strange sensation of butterflies in his stomach until now. Virginia switches her gaze to Tony. "Anyway. I need to go. I'm supposed to be meeting my professor to go over some notes from class." 

Virginia nods her head to him and leaves them. Howard doesn't bring up the fact that he's a disappointment again and they go for lunch together civilly. It's a temporary victory.

 

 

 

 

 

Pepper has a habit of people watching. As she waits in line for coffee, she leans against the glass counter and studies the other students sitting inside. There are several on dates, one couple haven't come up for air yet; one woman almost dozing off in a pile of textbooks; a man sat by the window sketching those passing. It always intrigues her, the way people behave when they don't think they're being watched. 

Pepper claims a window seat once she collects her coffee. Truthfully, all she's done is come here to people watch. It helps ease her stress. Especially when she sees that others around her seem just as lost and confused by MIT as she is. 

So when Tony Stark appears in front of her, she knows all of her plans are out of the window. 

"Only  _ one  _ shot of espresso?" He asks, slipping into the seat opposite her. The strong scent of his coffee flows over towards her. "Coward."

"Do I have to be worried about how much you're following me around?"

"Hey, I'm here to meet a friend. What's your excuse?" 

Pepper glares at him. He doesn't seem the slightest bit intimidated by her, which is new. Her mother has often chided her for how cutthroat she is with people. It'd resulted in a very lonely childhood, but it had also meant that the friends she made in her teenage years were definitely good people. She has no time to waste on niceties. There are goals she needs to achieve. Being polite, except for when the moment absolutely calls for it, isn't going to help her achieve them. 

"Relax," Tony says. "I really  _ am  _ here to meet a friend."

"By friend do you mean blonde, a little dumb, big boobs?" 

Tony's eyes widen and he laughs. Pepper hates herself for thinking his laugh is a pleasant sound.

"I can never predict a damn thing you're going to say," he tells her.

Pepper arches an eyebrow. "Oh, like that's not how you behave?"

"Touché, Virginia. Touché." 

"Stop calling me that."

He genuinely looks puzzled. "It's your name."

"Only my mother calls me Virginia. Everyone else calls me Pepper." 

Tony smiles. It stretches across his entire face, wide and beautiful. She chastises herself for associating  _ Tony  _ and  _ beautiful  _ in the same thought.

"Okay. Pepper," he says, like testing the name in his mouth. 

His smile is still so wide, his eyes bright, that she wonders if he'd listened to a word that had flowed from his father's mouth the other day. Pepper'd heard the voice as she'd approached and instantly adopted a feeble, dumb-girl approach to try and swiftly move pass the family drama. Until she'd realised who the voice belonged to. Looking at him now, it's hard to imagine the boy who seemed so sullen around his father.

"So - "

"No, you can't have my number."

"Not what I was going to ask."

"Really?"

Tony shrugs. "Okay. Maybe that was part of it. But you know what I was really going to ask?"

Pepper heaves a sigh, leaning on her elbows against the table. If her mom were here she'd knock them away. 

"Enlighten me."

"Your hair. Natural or dyed?"

Pepper touches her fingers to the end of her red locks self-consciously.

"Natural."

Tony reaches over to touch the very ends she is. She leans out of his grasp. His eyes flicker with disappointment but she doesn't apologise.

"It's beautiful."

And so, that's how his questioning begins. He needles her about every aspect of her life, launching into a quiz like he hadn't just complimented the very thing she'd been bullied in school for (and had also caused her to bleach her hair during her embarrassing pre-teen years). He interrogates her about her classes; her family; her friends; her hobbies. At first, she resists, reminding him time and time again that she isn't interested in him. However, when he's not trying to get her number, she finds he's genuinely good conversationalist, and finds she's handing out parts of herself without realising. She tries to ask the same questions in return. He drops a few nuggets of information here and there, more breadcrumbs than anything, but she's not surprised he's guarded. Not after the exchange she witnessed between him and his father a few days ago.

The patrons in the coffeeshop switch three times. She finishes her coffee and he orders her another while his goes cold and untouched. She makes her way through her second one, and is arguing with him about how she should one hundred percent not have a third if she wants to get any sleep, when his friend finally interrupts them. A tall, lean black man. Definitely not a blonde with big boobs.

"You're late."

"Sorry, man," Tony's friend says, clapping him on the shoulder and squeezing, "I did message you." 

"Hm. Well, Rhodey, this is Pepper. Pepper, this is Rhodey, MIT's resident brawn." 

"I'm a solider," Rhodey clarifies for her, holding his hand out to shake. 

Pepper accepts the handshake. He has a solid grip. 

"Thank you for your service," she replies, like her father has taught her. 

Tony snickers. Rhodey shakes his head. 

"You don't have to do that."

Tony elbows Rhodey's hip. "Speaking of service, get Pepper another coffee." 

" _ Stop _ ," she insists, but she can't prevent her smile. "I'm going now anyway." 

"Don't leave on my account," Rhodey says. 

"No, I should've left a while ago anyway. My roommate and I are supposed to be catching a movie tonight. She'll be wondering where I am." 

Tony's watching her strangely. She shakes Rhodey's hand again in goodbye and doesn't know what to do with her hands around him. He's transformed himself from annoying playboy into genuine acquaintance in the space of almost two hours. She settles on squeezing his shoulder, a little gentler than she'd seen Rhodey do before. His muscles tense beneath her hand.

 

 

 

 

That evening, while on the computer in the library, an email pops up in her inbox with the subject line:  _ Single Espresso. _

_ Pepper, _

_ Hacked the student database and found your email. Hope you don't mind. _

_ \- Tony. _

Pepper smiles to herself, then tells herself off for being so girlish.

_ Tony, _

_ I do mind. I don't think you care, though. _

_ \- Pepper. _

The reply is instantaneous. 

_ Pepper, _

_ You're right. I don't. _

_ Are you this much of a mind reader with everyone? _

_ \- Tony. _

The conversation never ends.

 

 

 

 

Correspondence with Pepper becomes a regular thing. 

He has absolutely no idea what he's doing.

She's scathing. She's witty. She's beautiful.

She's out of his league.

He's never thought that about a girl before.

 

 

 

 

Rhodey abandons him somewhere between their fourth and fifth drinks. Tony watches him go with a brunette on his arm and mouths  _ good luck.  _ Rhodey doesn't need luck, though. Neither of them ever have. The girls just sort of fall into their hands. Tony's a genius; Rhodey's a future solider. It's not hard to attract girls.

Tony heads for the exit. He's been meaning to do some more tinkering with his project. Sure, he's a little buzzed, but he does some of his best work when he's drunk and/or high. Besides, the girls in this bar tonight just aren't  _ doing  _ it for him. Maybe it's got something to do with the fact he hasn't slept in a few days. 

The November air is bitter against his skin when he steps outside. A gaggle of girls glance his way, one leaning her hips exaggeratedly against the wall, but he begins to wander off until he spots a familiar head of red hair. Pepper's sat on the sidewalk with holding back the yellow hair of another girl as she pukes on the road. The vomit splashes against the tarmac, and Pepper's legs, but though she cringes Pepper stays put to help her friend. Tony heads towards them without a second thought.

"Need some help?"

Pepper glances up and sighs with relief.

"Tony," she greets him. "This is my roommate."

"I'd introduce myself, but I don't think she's in the mood right now."

His statement is punctuated by another flurry of vomit. 

"I need to get her to a hospital," Pepper states, biting on her lower lip. "She's been throwing up for at least twenty minutes." 

"Nope. What she needs is some water and sleep. She's still conscious and puking. Both are good signs. Trust me, I'm kind of an expert on this." 

Tony holds his hand out to Pepper. 

"What?"

"I'm taking you back to your dorm," he tells her.

"She can't walk."

"I can carry her."

"She'll throw up on you."

"Been there, done that, got the t-shirt."

"Fine," Pepper gives in. "But you asked for it."

Pepper takes his hand and he pulls her up to her feet. She's a little taller than him tonight - he blames it on the heels - and he takes a moment to drink her in. She's still as poised and graceful as ever. Unlike her roommate, she isn't wearing a slinky dress, but a formal figure-fitting black one. The kind he would've thought boring before he met Pepper. 

He pushes the thought away and bends down, lifting her roommate firefighter-style. Pepper matches his pace easily.  They walk back to her dorm in pleasant silence. Her roommate, whose name is apparently Antonia, doesn't empty her stomach content down his back, thankfully, and Pepper doesn't fuss. 

The halls of the dorms are silent - most students out partying at house parties or trying to get into clubs with their fake IDs - and he watches Pepper as she searches for her key in her bag, the artificial lights above them scorching her hair. 

When she opens the door to her dorm, he isn't the slightest surprised by what he finds. The side belonging to her roommate is covered in posters, in concert ticket stubs, in photos of friends and family. There are dye stains on the frame of her bed and four pairs of mismatching socks beneath her desk, which is covered in papers and uncapped highlighters and three overdue library books. On Pepper's side however, everything is neat. Her textbooks are lined up in order and she has sticky notes attached to their spines stating the date they're due back at the library. She has a ring binder for each class she takes. There is nothing beneath her desk except an already empty wastebasket. Her bed is made, the sheets tucked neatly beneath the mattress, and the only photo she has out is of her and a brunette who, he guesses going on looks, is her sister.

"Sorry about the mess."

Tony tries not to laugh too much - Antonia has settled into sleep - and watches Pepper's cheeks turn a delightful pink hue. 

He sets Antonia on the bed and watches as Pepper removes her shoes and jewellery, placing these in the correct spots among the mess. She tucks Antonia under the duvet and disappears briefly to get her water, which she sets opened on her bedside table.

"Thanks, Tony," Pepper says, turning towards him and crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't know how I would've got her back here by myself." 

"Don't mention it."

"No, really," Pepper insists. "I know you probably had - other plans." 

She seems to trip over the last two words. 

"I was actually headed out. Not with someone," he adds at her look. "I was going to... you know what? I'll show you."

Pepper's eyes widen. "Tony, it's late - "

"It's barely even midnight," he says, already tugging on her arm. "C'mon. It's not far to walk."

"I really don't think - "

"For once in your life, Pepper, try not to."

"Pot. Kettle." 

"Touché."

In the end, however, he wins. She grabs her bag and he pulls her out of her dorm room, back down the stairs, and halfway across campus. During the walk, she insists that the heels she's wearing don't hurt her, though he eyes them dubiously. Hot as she looks in them, he really doesn't want her to get a sprained ankle. It wouldn't exactly give her an incentive to spend more time with him.

Pepper follows him into the building and only stops him when his swipe card for the lab is rejected.

"Are we supposed to be here?" She whispers.

"Why are you whispering?"

" _Tony_."

"Yeah, we're fine," he lies, dropping to a crouch to hack the sensor. It's rudimentary and simple to override. "Watch the door."

"Oh my god. If I get kicked out, I swear - "

"You won't if you watch the door."

Pepper makes a disgruntled noise but otherwise listens to what he says. He hacks the sensor in less than twenty seconds, not that he's trying to show off, and pushes the door to the lab open. 

"I can't see anything," Pepper complains.

"If you'd forgotten, we're not supposed to be in here. So no lights."

He gropes for Pepper's hand in the dark. He finds it and leads her the right way. He's memorised this path so many times he could do it blindfolded, backward, and drunk. Pepper rests her other hand on the inside of his elbow as she follows him. His traitorous stomach fills with warmth. He tries to push the feeling away to no avail. 

They reach the computer, and as they come to a stop, Pepper lets go of him. He focuses on booting up the computer.

"Watch," he murmurs, finding her elbow in the dark and drawing her closer to the screen as he inputs commands to start up JARVIS.

The screen, all black at first, lights up with green text. 

_ Good evening, Mr Stark. _

In the low light, he watches Pepper frown.

"I don't understand. You coded the computer to greet you?"

"Type."

"What?"

"Type back to it."

Pepper hesitates. And then she writes:  _My name is Pepper._

After ten seconds, JARVIS responds.

_ Good evening, Miss Potts. _

Pepper gasps. "How does it know my surname?"

"JARVIS knows a lot. I feed him information so that he's constantly learning. You ever heard of AI?"

He doesn't tell her that he's already programmed JARVIS to give Pepper almost as complete control as him.

"Artificial Intelligence?"

"Yeah. This is just the rudimentary stuff. I'm gonna have JARVIS evolve so much more. Yesterday I programmed him to download information from the internet. A little slow for now, but I can work on that."

Pepper looks dumbfounded.

"Go on. Ask him a question," he encourages her. 

_ What else do you know about me? _

A twenty second gap this time.

_ Your full name is Virginia Potts. You are from Pine Village, Indiana. You are the daughter of Harold and Genevieve Potts. You have one sibling, Theresa Potts. Your birthday is February nineteenth. You major in Economics at MIT. _

_ Stop,  _ Pepper writes, and lets out a shaky exhale.

"This is - " She pauses. "This is crazy. Creepy, and crazy."

"He's not built to spy on people," he insists. "I want him to - well, I guess I want to use him as an assistant. I'm thinking about implementing voice control."

"Why are you still studying when you can build stuff like _this_? Don't your professors think it's incredible?"

Tony keeps his mouth shut. Pepper turns her attention from the computer screen, which now reads  _how many I be of service?_  to him. 

"What? You haven't shown them?" Pepper asks. He scratches at his goatee. "Tony. Tell me you've shown someone other than me."

He shakes his head. There are tons of excuses he could come up with. Or he could just give her the real reason why. Yet words and emotions stump him. Too much of his father's influence, he supposes. So he keeps quiet. He keeps quiet, and tries to read the look on her face, but for once he cannot infer any information from what's available to him. Maybe that's the real pull of Pepper.

Pepper turns back to the computer screen and types  _Thank you, JARVIS._ The AI responds with  _You're welcome, Miss Potts._ She switches the computer off. 

"Ready to go?" He asks.

He grabs her hand and leads her back to the exit. She tugs him to a stop just before he can pull the door open. They're suspended in darkness. Yet he can tell she's close, from the angle of her hand in his, from the way he feels her breath wash over his face. 

"Tony," she murmurs. "Your dad has no idea what he's talking about. You're a genius."

He feels himself freeze. She'd never said anything, and so he'd assumed she hadn't heard the words that had spewed from his father's mouth over a month ago. 

She squeezes his hand.

He kisses her.

Pepper lets him. It's soft, her mouth is perfectly warm, but she doesn't open up to him. It's the chastest kiss he's ever experience with a girl. When he pulls away, she lets out a small, disapproving sigh.

"I'm sorry," he gets out immediately. "Pepper - "

"It's okay," she reassures him. 

"I just - "

"I know."

Pepper releases his hand and reaches past him for the door. 

He stops her, placing his jacket around her shoulders.

"It's twenty-five outside," he supplies as a reason, but he's secretly thrilled when he walks her back to her dorm and she forgets to give it back.

 

 

 

 

The following Monday, Pepper meets Tony outside of her business lecture to return his jacket. She'd kept it tucked beneath her pillow, out of Antonia's eyesight, especially after she'd endured a million and one questions about why Tony Stark had helped carry her home. It's a little creased around the elbow, where she'd fallen asleep in the foetal-position still wearing it the Friday night he'd given it to her.

Tony's nervous around her, she can tell, just by the way he approaches her. The kiss is something that's replayed on her mind, but it's just that. A kiss. It'd been dark, he's a guy, she's a girl. So he'd kissed her. It's no big deal. He's Tony. He's done more than that with tons of girls. 

"Thank you," she says, handing the jacket to him. "I definitely would've contracted hypothermia without it."

"No problem," he replies quickly. He takes the jacket. "You wanna go get a coffee or something?"

"I have class," she tells him, watching his mask crack for a second and his disappointment seep through. "I can meet you after, though. Ten o'clock."

Tony beams. "Ten o'clock. Gotcha."

"Don't be late."

"I never am."

"Liar."

Pepper heads to her usual lecture seat. In the middle, to the left, between those who know every single answer and want to boast about it and those that waste money and time making paper airplanes. She sits alone, as she always does, and sets out her notebook, three pens (in case one runs out of ink and the second one breaks), and a bottle of water on the small pull out desk in front of her.

And then, two girls she's never spoken to before sit in front of her. 

This would be confusing enough, but then they both  _turn_ to her. Pepper regards them coolly.

"You're Virginia, right?" One of the girls, with honey-blonde locks, asks her.

"That's me."

The other one, whose dark hair matches her smokey eye make up, pipes up.

"So how was it?"

The lights begin to dim. She's going to miss the start of the lecture.

"How was what?"

The blonde rolls her eyes. "The sex."

Pepper prides herself for how she keeps her face blank and her voice steady.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The brunette points across the room, to another brunette. Pepper recognises the girl as Charlotte, who she's never spoken to but has always considered her a beautiful, yet shy girl.

"See her over there? She slept with him last week. She says he was amazing. And she meant  _amazing,"_ the brunette says, emphasising the word so that it sounds like  _uh-may-zing._ "But now he avoids her on campus."

_ Charming,  _ _ Tony, _  she thinks dryly.

"I don't understand what that has to do with me."

"Oh come on," the blonde interrupts. "Everyone saw him leave with you on Friday night. That guy has, like, groupies. Though if you ask me? I would've kept the jacket. You could probably get money for it. Like, a lot."

Pepper smiles, but it's all ice.

"You're right. I didn't ask you."

The blonde and brunette exchange a glance. 

"No need to be so uptight," the brunette says.

"Yeah, we were just  _asking_ ," the blonde whines.

The two get up and leave, one of them murmuring something under their breath which sounds suspiciously similar to  _bitch,_ but Pepper doesn't bat an eyelid. She sits through the two hour class and makes notes in a haze. She waits until the lecture is over, and she can get out of the eyesight of the two, before she panics. 

 

 

 

 

He's late.

Of course he's late. 

It's ten twenty-seven which, by his standards, isn't actually too late. Yet he knows, according to Pepper's standards, means twenty-seven minutes late. He plans on bursting in, buying her coffee - or maybe even a donut, not that he's ever seen her eat any junk food - to make it up to her, but when he arrives she's sullen. She doesn't even reprimand him for being late. Though he tries to needle what's wrong out of her, she doesn't give in. 

Forty minutes into coffee which has mostly been the two of them sitting in silence - or, well, he got a notepad out after fifteen minutes and started scribbling more advanced JARVIS blueprints, so she's the one that's been sitting in silence - she finally speaks up.

"Doesn't it bother you?"

He glances up at her. "What?"

Pepper's staring out of the window.

"That everyone talks about you? All the time?"

Tony considers this.

"Well, they've done that my whole life."

"Good for you," Pepper retorts icily.

Tony slides his pencil behind his ear. Pepper frees her hair of her ponytail and lets it fall around her shoulders, and shields her face from his view. 

"I didn't say it was a good thing," he remarks. In the window reflection, he watches Pepper's brow furrow. "I'm just used to it."

Whatever conversation they're apparently having, this seems to be the right thing to say. Pepper's shoulders deflate. She turns back to him and there's no more silence as she asks him what he's working on.

 

 

 

 

 

After missing her visit to MIT a month and a half ago, Maria Stark finally finds the time to fly and see her son. He's gotten broader in the time he's been away at college, and grown a beard out too, which makes him look all the more like his father. She doesn't tell him this. She greets him with a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek before he gets carried away babbling about his projects. Her son's mind works at a mile a minute. It's wonderful. She's proud of him. Yet she knows he needs to take the time to calm down. To have a moment where he isn't trying to constantly impress.

He leads her around the campus, her hand in the crook of his elbow. The new robotics wing Howard had donated is popular, it seems, even with Tony, who so often rejects his father's gifts. He only takes a moment to stop speaking as they pass a set of dorms. He gazes up at the third floor wistfully. 

"There's someone I'd like you to meet."

Maria Stark regards her son with curiosity.

"A girlfriend?"

"No, just a friend.

Curiouser and curiouser. Her son doesn't have  _ friends. _  Even as a child, he'd always been alone.

Tony leads her into the dorm hall. It smells of beer and junk food. Yet her son, who's more of a snob than he'll admit to being, doesn't appear to be fazed. She follows him to the third floor. He doesn't say a word. The only thing that gives him away is the slight shake in his arm. Maria waits patiently as he lets her go to knock on the door. 

A tall, willowy redheaded woman answers. She has a smart white shirt on paired with a pair of fitted grey trousers. The freckles dotted across her nose and cheeks seem to dance when she smiles.

_This_ is definitely not what she'd expected.   


"Tony, what are you - "

"Pepper, this is my mom, Maria," Tony interrupts. "Mom, this is Pepper Potts. She's a friend." 

The young woman's eyes widen instantly. She holds her hand out to shake. It's a strong, respectable handshake.

"Mrs Stark. It's a pleasure to meet you."

_Curious,_ Maria thinks again.   


"Please, call me Maria," she insists. "I'm sorry. Tony hadn't told me we'd be interrupting."

"It's fine. I was just studying. Really, I'm sort of used to it," Pepper nervously babbles, glancing at Tony.

"Yes, my son does have that affect on people."

Tony doesn't look the slightest bit guilty.

"We were walking by," he says, hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall, the picture of faux relaxed. "Thought we'd say hi. So. Hi."

"Hi," Pepper replies, this time with a bit of a glare. Maria holds back a smile.

"Anthony, at least invite the poor girl to lunch with us now that we've inconvenienced her."

Tony grins at Pepper. "You in?"

"Oh, I really shouldn't intrude." 

"We'd be delighted to have you join us," Maria tells her.

With a little needling from her son, Pepper accepts the invitation. They wait for her to get changed and Tony carefully angles his body away from Maria. She cannot read his face. In fact, she can't truly read anything about this situation. Since when did her son befriend polite, well-behaved women?

Pepper emerges from her dorm in an emerald-green fitted dress, a belt around her small waist, with a black blazer and heels to match. Her son stumbles over a compliment and the young woman accepts it gracefully. As they walk back down the stairs and towards Maria's driver, Maria finds herself rattling her brain for any recognition for the surname Potts. She can't remember meeting any Potts members in her social circles. Yet Pepper holds herself with the kind of grace and dignity that would fool Maria herself into believing she comes from a family of high social standing. 

During the ride, Maria observes the pair. Her son is enigmatic around Pepper. They parry off of one another, bickering about everything from professors to economic theory. They don't stop, even once they arrive at the restaurant. Tony hops out and opens the door for them, batting the driver's hands away, but the moment Pepper is on the sidewalk they continue their bickering. It's amusing, of course, but more than anything Maria feels a deep sense of peace. She's feared for her son. For years now. He's been elbow-deep in brief social flings, more concerned with his robots and arguing with his father than anything else. The only social interaction he's really had is with her. Or Rhodey - but even then, Rhodey is an on-off friendship because of his commitments to the military. Now, though, she sees someone permanent rooted by Tony's side, in whatever capacity they choose. Pepper Potts can keep up with Tony.

No-one else can do that.

Pepper is a gracious guest. She limits herself to one glass of wine, which she sips slowly and steadily, citing that she needs to continue studying when gets back to her dorm. Tony is loud and brash even in situations like these, but Pepper keeps him quiet, and, Maria notices, isn't afraid to point out when he's being rude. Pepper tries to pay for her share of lunch, which Maria declines immediately, and only wins because Tony forces Pepper's card out of her hand and in the inner pocket of his suit jacket, to be returned only when she gets back to her dorm room. 

Pepper Potts has her blessing, whether she realises it or not. 

"Thank you for lunch," Pepper says as they pull up at MIT after. "It was stunning."

"You're more than welcome. My husband will regret that he didn't get to meet you. He usually accompanies me on these visits," Maria says. She watches the way Tony pulls a face at the mention of Howard. "You'll have to join us again next time."

Pepper's cheeks grow pink. "Of course."

Tony hops out of the car. "I'll get your door."

Pepper rolls her eyes.  _Tony,_ she murmurs, but it's soft and endearing.

As Tony sets his door closed and heads around to Pepper's side, Maria takes her opportunity.

"My son is different around you."

Pepper swallows. "Oh."

"Happier," Maria clarifies.

Pepper averts her eyes to the ground. 

"Well," she says quietly, "I care about him a lot."

Maria reaches over and squeezes the young woman's hand. 

"Good. He needs someone like you." 

The door on Pepper's side opens. Maria pulls away and Pepper's unflappable mask slips back on as she turns to Tony, who's mock-bowing. Pepper bids Maria goodbye and thanks her once more before she slips out. Tony leans in to inform Maria that he's walking Pepper back to her dorm room. Maria watches the two of them go without complaint. Her son rarely detaches himself from her side when she visits. 

He's in good hands.

 

 

 

 

 

Pepper reads about the car crash two days after it happens. 

She's back at home during winter break. Tony hasn't emailed her in three days, which she considers odd, but it all falls into place after she reads the paper after her father one morning.

Pepper sends him three emails. The first one sends her condolences. The second one asking how he is. The third one asking if he'd like her to go visit. 

She has no money to do that. She offers regardless.

He doesn't answer.

 

 

 

 

 

Pepper's father works overtime at both jobs for five days in a row and her mother puts in a few shifts at her old diner job. Pepper babysits neighbour's kids at the same time as studying. After all this, she is able to afford tickets to Tony's, shortly before New Years Eve, eight days after Howard and Maria's funeral. She emails Tony about it. There's no answer. 

She gets on the plane anyway.

 

 

 

 

The Stark mansion is intimidating. Pepper drives up to the gated driveway, at a loss for words. Of course, she knew Tony was rich. Filthy rich. Seeing it for herself is another story completely.

A small screen flickers to life.  _Please state your name,_ it requests as text onscreen. Pepper recognises the JARVIS AI immediately.

"Pepper Potts."

There's barely any gap in the AI's response time.  _Welcome, Miss Potts._

The gates to the driveway open immediately. Pepper drives her hire car up to the entrance of the house, around an ostentatious fountain, and takes a moment to admire the beautiful garden of the mansion. She briefly wonders if Maria Stark took part in the gardening. She cuts the engine. 

Pepper grabs her small suitcase from the trunk and walks towards the grand entrance. The door is made of finely crafted mahogany, she thinks as she presses the doorbell, the sort of thing her father would love. Before her parents had to put her through college, her father would save every penny he made to improve the house. Most of it was falling apart, but then she'd come home and find she had new carpet in her room, or a fresh lick of paint in the kitchen, and she could no longer see the flaws. 

The woman who opens the door carries a regal air. Her brown hair is laced with graceful strips of grey, perfect curls framed around her face. A necklace of pearls settle on her dark blue blouse.

Pepper recognises her immediately.

"I'm sorry," Peggy Carter says curtly. "I don't believe Mr Stark is expecting visitors today."

Pepper swallows past her admiration for the woman. Now is not the time to be a bumbling, enamoured fan.

"I'm Pepper. Pepper Potts. We know each other from MIT. I emailed Tony that I'd be visiting."

Peggy's lips curl into a smile.

"Oh, yes. Maria mentioned you once."

Peggy welcomes Pepper into the Stark mansion with no further preamble. A maid appears and takes Pepper's things. Peggy leads her through the foyer and into the living room, where she leaves briefly to make them tea. Pepper finds herself studying the photos on the walls, affectionately smiling at the sight of young Tony. He doesn't appear with Howard in many, though there are plenty of him and his mother. Pepper's holding a framed photo that had been sitting on the side of a teenaged Tony and a brown-haired man she doesn't recognise when Peggy reenters the room.

Peggy sets the tea tray on the coffee table and joins Pepper's side. 

"That's Jarvis."

Pepper holds her breath. "Excuse me?"

"Edwin Jarvis. He was Howard's butler. And a very dear friend of mine," Peggy tells her, and Pepper glances sideways at the woman to see her smiling wistfully. 

"Sorry. I've just heard the name before."

"I should think so," Peggy says, abandoning Pepper's side to take a seat and begin pouring their tea. Pepper places the frame back on the mantelpiece and sits opposite her. "Howard was my friend, but he had his shortcomings. Being a father was one of them. Jarvis practically raised Anthony." 

Pepper feels a fierce warmth bloom in her chest for Tony. The man is quietly sentimental. 

"Can I see him?" Pepper asks, accepting the mug of tea from Peggy.

Peggy stirs three sugars into her own mug of tea. 

"I advise you to be careful. Tony is... delicate, right now."

"I can only imagine."

"He's been acting out," Peggy informs her. "If he says anything harmful, you must understand that he's grieving." 

"I understand," Pepper promises.

 

 

 

 

 

At first, he thinks Pepper is a mirage. Like he's a man stranded in the desert desperate for a drink of water. His door cracks open and beautiful, fiery hair is the first thing he notices, followed by those endless legs, and then her sympathetic smile. He doesn't say a word, stretched out on his bed, watching her, for fear of the image disappearing. Yet she sits at his hip and places a hand on his chest, solid and warm and  _real,_ and he realises this is no hallucination.

"What're you doing here?" He groans.

Pepper's hand moves and squeezes his shoulder. "I just... thought you might need someone."

He shifts on the bed and Pepper lays down beside him, her arm brushing his. She links their hands together as they both stare up at the ceiling. 

"I keep waiting. For it not to be real."

Pepper squeezes his hand. 

"I'm so sorry, Tony." 

"I guess this means I have to leave college," he realises out loud. He tries to contemplate a life without Pepper being on-call. The ugly, empty feeling in his chest claws it wide open. "I run SI now. Isn't that stupid?"

"You don't have to," she points out gently. "You can make your own path."

"No, I can't," he sighs. He turns on his side to face Pepper. "Hey, you want a job? I guess I can get you one of those now. At SI." 

Pepper shakes her head. "Tony - "

"Seriously, anything you want, you can have."

"If and when I get a job, I want it to be based on my own merits, not because I know you." 

Her words are sharp, and though she looks a little apologetic, she doesn't apologise. Tony wonders what that feeling is like. To be respected and valued for your own achievements, not for what your family has accomplished.

"I'll miss you, though," she murmurs. 

Tony clears his throat.

"Yeah. Yeah, me too."

This time, Pepper kisses him. Tony freezes. She rests a hand against his cheek, and then winds it around the back of his neck as her mouth opens up to him, pulling him closer as her tongue slicks over his upper lip and her breaths are short and heavy against his lips. Tony closes his eyes, knowing there are things he should say, promises he can't make. Pepper's hand slips beneath his waistband and all thought is forgotten.

Later, when he's poised on top of her, he stops her a second. Pepper make a small, impatient noise and nips at his neck before dropping her head down to the pillow. She stares right back at him, brazen and beautiful. Her thighs tighten around his hips, pulling him down, and he follows.

 

 

 

 

 

When Pepper gets home on January second, her parents have already received a cheque reimbursing them their costs for the flights and more. She tries to email Tony and tell him to take it back, but he never answers. She finds she isn't surprised. 

Her parents accept the money.

 

 

 

 

 

He emails her only once, in late May, when she's stressing about her finals and dating a boy she's grown more fond of than she originally thought she would. 

_ Pepper, _

_ Been doing a lot of thinking about what I should put into this. Part of me wants to apologise, but I'm not sure what for.  _

_ I hope college is going well. I heard from the dean that you're going to be graduating a year early. I'm not surprised. You know they let me graduate early too? For entirely different reasons. _

_ I guess all I really want to say is this:  _

_ You know where to find me. _

_ \- Tony. _

 

 

 

 

 

Six months later, she's hired by Stark Industries' Finance team.


End file.
